| I got a call tonight from my
buddy Nelson of the band clueLess. Recently he's been driving
around the country with Bar None Records band Oppenheimer from
Belfast, Ireland. Tonight he told me that a fellow Bar None
band called The Spinto Band were gonna be at Irving Plaza. Nelson's
girlfriend Debbie works at Irving Plaza (17 Irving Pl, NYC)
so between the two of them that meant I could get in for free
and hang in the VIP area.
It never ceases to amaze me when I find places I've never
been to in NYC despite being here all of my life. Tonight
is actually my first time in Irving Plaza. Oh sure, I've bought
tickets to other venues from the Irving Plaza lobby. Still
I've never seen a show here at this former Yiddish theater
and burlesque house. As a mid-sized venue, the floor in front
of the stage can get pretty crowded. Thankfully there is a
pleasantly roomy second floor bar area.
It's across from this area that one can find the VIP area.
Separated by a simple velvet rope and access granted to only
those with special stickers on their clothing, you actually
feel like you're in a whole other room. Of course you're not
really, but at least you're also not crammed into some dude's
shoulder blades with some other strange elbow in your back
as you try to sip your spilling beer.
The Spinto Band are critically acclaimed and a good portion
of the crowd seemed to like them. But despite having six people
on stage, to me they sounded a bit la-de-da and thin and I
was not really grabbed by their songs. However I was grabbed
by the unusually strong drinks. Normally in places like this
the drinks are painfully over-priced and woefully weak. These
were just painfully over-priced.
Apparently James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins was standing nearby.
It took two people to point that fact out to me. It's not
that I don't like the band, I just never really paid attention
to what any of them looked like. Besides, I'm the guy who
has on differnent occasions stood within inches of Richie
Havens, Mick Jagger and Paul Newman without recognizing them.
So forgive me for not knowing Iha.
The next band called Art Brut was truly a pleasant surprise.
While standing outside, Shaun Robinson of Oppenheimer described
them to me as a heavier version of The Fall while somehow
being even more tongue-in-cheek. I'm a big fan of The Fall
and my curiosity was piqued. Once they started playing, it
was clear that Shaun was right.
The singer most definitely has a similar grunting delivery
as Mark E. Smith but their unique sound has harder elements
of classic rock and pop mixed in. My leg started cramping
up in sympathy for the drummer who played standing up the
whole set. Debbie pointed out that their bassist was singing
along to all the songs. We had to wonder though, why she had
no mic of her own.
I scraped up what was left of my money to get a CD and we
were all out into the rainy night in search of the next bar.
It was a bit of a cluster fuck as we tried to decide on a
place. I found an ATM in a local deli to get more money as
the one at Irving Plaza was broken. Apparently a common problem.
Upon exiting I stepped ankle deep into a puddle of water
This wound up symbolizing the rest of the night as being
a washout. Nelson, Debbie and I never did make it to the next
bar. We lost touch with our Ireland crew. After some more
walking and stopping by Debbie's outta town boss's apartment
to check on the mail, I swished and swashed my way back to
Hoboken. By the time I got to town, the bars were closed.
So I walked home, ate a sandwich and went to sleep.
See Also:
Bar None
Records
The Spinto
Band
Art Brut
Irving
Plaza
clueLess
Oppenheimer
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